B4X Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

Extract a PDF Table with Merged Cells

See more PDF Text Extraction Examples

Demonstrates how merged cells are reported by the "tables" operation: a header cell that spans several columns has colSpan greater than 1, and a row label that spans several rows has rowSpan greater than 1. Also shows the minRows and minColumns options. B4X

Dim success As Boolean = False

'  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
'  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

'  The PDF used in this example is available at spans_table.pdf

Dim pdf As ChilkatPdf
pdf.Initialize("pdf")
success = pdf.LoadFile("qa_data/pdf/spans_table.pdf")
If success = False Then
    Log(pdf.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


Dim json As ChilkatJsonObject
json.Initialize
Dim jsonOut As ChilkatJsonObject
jsonOut.Initialize

'  Grids smaller than minRows x minColumns are not reported as tables.  The defaults are 2 and 2.
'  Setting them higher skips small boxes that are not really tables.
json.UpdateInt("minRows", 3)
json.UpdateInt("minColumns", 3)

success = pdf.ExtractText("tables", json, jsonOut)
If success = False Then
    Log(pdf.LastErrorText)
    Return
End If


Log("Tables found: " & jsonOut.IntOf("count"))
Log(jsonOut.IntOf("tables[0].rows") & " rows x " & jsonOut.IntOf("tables[0].columns") & " columns")

'  A merged cell is reported once, at its top-left position, with its spans.
'  The positions it covers have no cell of their own.
Dim rowSpan As Int
Dim colSpan As Int
Dim j As Int = 0
Dim count_j As Int = jsonOut.SizeOfArray("tables[0].cells")
Do While j < count_j
    jsonOut.J = j
    rowSpan = jsonOut.IntOf("tables[0].cells[j].rowSpan")
    colSpan = jsonOut.IntOf("tables[0].cells[j].colSpan")
    If (rowSpan > 1) Or (colSpan > 1) Then
        Log("row " & jsonOut.IntOf("tables[0].cells[j].row") & ", col " & jsonOut.IntOf("tables[0].cells[j].col") & ": " & Chr(34) & jsonOut.StringOf("tables[0].cells[j].text") & Chr(34) & " spans " & rowSpan & " row(s) and " & colSpan & " column(s)")
    End If

    j = j + 1
Loop

'  Sample output:

'  Tables found: 1
'  6 rows x 6 columns
'  row 0, col 0: "Area" spans 2 row(s) and 1 column(s)
'  row 0, col 1: "City" spans 2 row(s) and 1 column(s)
'  row 0, col 2: "First Half" spans 1 row(s) and 2 column(s)
'  row 0, col 4: "Second Half" spans 1 row(s) and 2 column(s)
'  row 2, col 0: "East" spans 2 row(s) and 1 column(s)
'  row 4, col 0: "West" spans 2 row(s) and 1 column(s)